Method and apparatus for charging billets into furnaces



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F. C. BiGGERT, JR

MTHQD AND `APPARATU5 FOR CHARGING BILLETS INTO FURNACES Filed'Nov.`21,1923 5 Sheets-Sheet l WN mm T, JR l METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CHARGINGBILLETS INTO FURNACES Aug. 25, 1925. A

v F CNBIGGER Filled Nov. 21,- 1923 s shams-sheet a INV NTOR Ag. Z5,1925. F. C. BIGGERT, JR

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR GHARGING BILLETSv INT0 FURNAcEs 3 Sheets-Sheet5 Filed Nov. 2l, 1923 Patented Aug. 25, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FLORENCE C. BIGGERT, JR., OF GRAFTON, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR T0 UNITEDENGINEERING & FOUNDRY COMPANY, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, A. COR-PORATION 0F PENNSYLVANIA.

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CHARGING BILLETS INTO FURNACES.

Application led November 21, 1923. Serial No. 676,035.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, FLORENCE C. BIGGERT, Jr., a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Grafton, county of Allegheny, and State ofPennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Methods andApparatus for Charging Billets into Furnaces, of which the following isa full, clear, and exact description.

The present invention relates broadly to pair-heating furnaces, and moreparticularly to a novel method and apparatus for charging the same withbars, slabs or billets which are subsequently to be rolled into sheets.

It is customary to take these bars, slabs or billets, which forconvenience will hereinafter be referred to simply as billets, as theyare sheared and place them upon the charging floor near the furnace. Thebillets are then manually placed one at a time in front of a suitablepusher by which they are pushed into the furnace.

By the present invention I have provided a charging apparatus adapted tohave placed thereon a plurality of stacks of sheared billets and toautomatically bodily transferl such stacks individually into a furnace,thereby greatly decreasing the amount of manual labor heretoforeinvolved in .the charging operation and making possible an increasedeiiiciency of the furnace.

In the accompanying drawings, there is shown, for purposes ofillustration only, one embodiment of the p-resent invention, it beingunderstood that the drawings do not deline the limits of Ithe invention,as changes may be made in the construction and operation thereindisclosed without departing from the spirit of the invention or scope ofmy broader claims.

' In the drawings- Figure 1 is a plan view-illustrating one embodimentof my invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the structure shown in Figure 1;

Figure 8 is a View similar to Figure 2 illustrating a slightly differentposition of the parts;

Figure 4 is a vertical transverse sectional view on the line IV-IV ofFigure 1; and

Figure 5 is a detail View of detent means forming part of the apparatus.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, there is illustrated aportion of the front wall 2 of a pair-heating furnace having a chargingopening 3 therein.

The charging apparatus is arranged directly in front of the opening 3and comprises a suitable frame or housing 4; The frame supports aplurality of parallel skids 5, which may be Lbeams. Each I-beam isprovided on its upper surface with a Wear plate 6.

The charging hearth 7 of the furnace eX- tends over and is supportedupon the forward ends of the skids, the upper surface of said hearthbeing flush with the upper surfaces of said skids, the skids forming aslideway leading to the charging hearth. Supported upon the rear end ofthe skids and extending transversely thereof is a standard 8 presentinga plurality of spaced abutment faces 9 lying in Va vertical plane atright angles to the longitudinal axes of the skids.

A carriage 10 is mounted in the frame 4 beneath the skids forreciprocation in a horizontal plane towards and from the chargingopening 3. The carriage is rovided at its ends with outwardly exten inghorizontal flanges 11 engaging in channels provided in the frame Il byflanges 12 and detachable plates 13, whereby the carriage is guided andheld on the frame, but may be readily detached therefrom by removing theplates 13. The carriage 10 is provided at its opposite ends with a pairof alined bearings 14 in which a shaft 15 is journaled. The shaft hasmounted thereon between the skids 5 a plurality of arms 16 adapted tocooperate with the abutments 9, as will be hereinafter explained.

On one end of the shaft 15 is secured a crank arm 17 having a roller 18journaled upon a pin 19 carried by the free end thereof. The roller 18engages in a channel 20 extending longitudinally of the frame 4 andprovided in a wall 2l at one side thereof. The channel 20` hashorizontal end portions 22 and 23 connected by an intermediate inclinedportion 24.

A rack 25 is connected at its forward end to the shaft 15, the saidshaft extending through an elongated slot 26 in said end of the rack,thereby providing a lost mo- Ition connection between the shaft andrack. The rack adjacent the forward end thereof is provided with a pairof downwardly eX- tending spaced arms 27 between which is journaled aroller 28. The roller 28 engages a channel shaped track 29 extendinglongitudinally of the frame 4 and centrally thereof.

The rack is provided in its upper edge adjacent its forward end with aninclined surface 3'0 engaged by a roller 31, the latter being journaledbetween a pair of arms 32 upon a pin 33 carried by the outer ends ofsaid arms. These arms are arranged on opposite sides of the rack and arecarried by the shaft 15.

The rack 25 is reciprocated by power derived from a suitable motor 34mounted upon a suitable base 35 arranged in front of the frame 4. Thedriving shaft 36 of the motor carries a pinion 37 engaging a gear 38upon a shaft 39 journaled in bearings 40 on the base 35. The shaft 39 isprovided with a pinion 41 engaging a gear 42 carried by a shaft 43parallel to the shaft 39. The shaft 43 carries a pinion 44 engaging agear 45 and the latter carries a pinion 46 meshing with the teeth of therack bar. Immediately above the pinion 46 there is provided a roller 47for engagement with the upper edge of the rack bar. This roller isjournaled upon a shaft 48 mounted in the upper end of a pair ofstandards 49 at opposite sides of the rack.

At the forward end of the slideway formed by the skids 5, retainingmeans is provided for engagement with the outermost billet of a stackafter the latter has been pushed over the slideway past said retainingmeans. The retaining means comprises a pair of housings 50 at oppositesides of the slideway for bearing blocks 51 which are verticallyadjustable in said housings by means of screws 52. Journaled in thebearings 51 is a shaft 53 which carries a plurality of latch arms 54.Each latch arm is provided with a beveled outer end adapted to beengaged by the stack to lift the arm and permit the stack to passbeneath the same until the rear end of the stack passes by a shoulder onthe arm whereupon the latter falls by gravity and the shoulder thereonengages the end of the stack.

The hereinbefore referred to arms 16 constitute pusher means for turninga stack S to lie on its side on the slideway and for pushing said stackover said slideway and hearth 7 into the furnace. Each arm 16 isprovided with an upright portion 55 to engage the side of a stack andwith a portion 56 to engage the bottoni of the stack. Preferably, theengaging surfaces of the portions 55 and 56 are arranged at an angle toeach other slightly greater than a right angle for a purpose which willappear hereinafter.

The operation of the charging apparatus described is as follows:

A plurality of stacks of sheared billets are placed upon the skids 5 infront of the abutment means 8, the arms 16 being separated from theabutment means 8 a sufficient distance to permit the stacks to bereceived therebetween. The motor 34 is then operated to move thecarriage 10 towards the abutment means 8 to press the stacks between theabutment means and the upright portions 55 of the arms 16 in order toeven the same so that the side edges of the individual billets in eachstack will all lie in the sameL vertical planes, After this has beendone, the motor 34 will be run in the reverse direction to move the rack25 towards the furnace. The first part of the movement of the rack 25 inthis direction will serve to take up the lost motion in the connectionbetween the end of the rack and the shaft 15 due to the elongated slot26 in the rack through which. the shaft passes. During this movement ofthe rack the roller 31 will ride up the incline 30 on the upper surfaceof the rack and cause the arms 16 to be tilted from the position shownin Figure 2 into the position shown in Figure 3. This tilting of thearms 16 will cause the portions` 56 thereof to engage the bottom of theendmost stack S and lift the same ofi the slideway formed by the skids5. Owing to the fact that the engaging surfaces of the portions 56 ofthe arms 16 lie at an obtuse angle to the engaging surfaces of theportions 55 thereof, the individual billets in the stack will lie at anacute angle to the surfacevof the portions 55. The tilting movement ofthe arms 16 from the position shown in Figure 2 to the position shown inFigure 3 is permitted by reason of the fact that the depth of thechannel 2O is greater than the diameter of the roller 18 carried by thecrank arm 17, Continued movement of the rack 25 towards the furnace,after the lost motion between the rack and shaft 15 has been taken up,causes the carriage 10 to be moved longitudinally of the frame 4 towardsthe furnace and during this mo vement the arms 16 are turned from thefull line position shown in Figure 3 into the dotted line position showntherein by reason of the travel of the roller 18 in the inclined portion24 of the channel 20. This turning of the arms 16 into the dotted lineposition thereof, shown in Figure 3, results in the stack carried bysaid arms being laid on its side on the slideway with the individualbillets thereof inclined slightly to the rear. Further movement of thecarriage 10 towards the furnace causes the portions 56 of the arms 16 topush the stack beneath the latch arms 54 until said arms fall by gravityinto engagement with the end billet. The operation described may berepeated to transfer the neXt stack into the furnace and so on until allof the stacks have been transferred.

As has been explained, the first part of the movement of the rack 25towards the furnace serves to take up the lost motion in the connectionbetween Ithe end of the rack and the shaft 15 and to simultaneouslyeffect tilting of the arms 16 from the position shown in Figure 2 intothe position shown in Figure 3. In the continued movement of the rackItowards the furnace, after this lost motion has been 'taken up, theroller 18 travels in the inclined portion 24 of the channel 20, causingthe turning of the arm 16 into the dotted line position thereof, shownin Figure 3. During this portion of the movement of the carriage 10 theweight of the stack carried by the arm 16 tends to cause a suddenacceleration of the movement of the carriage 10 towards the furnacewhich, if not prevented, would bring the shaft 15 to the opposite end ofthe slot 26 with a ar, tending to overturn the billets in the stack andalso tending to cause the entire stack to slide off the arms.

In order to prevent the carriage 10 from overrunning the rack 25 in theabove manner, I provide detent means on the end of the rack forengagement with a bearing block on the shaft 15. Referring to Figure 5,the shaft 15 is provided with a bearing block 57 sliding in the slot 26.Pivoted on the end of the rack is a lever 58 carrying a roller 59 at itsforward end which normally runs in the track 29. The rear end of thelever has formed thereon an integral detent 60 adapted to engage thefront side of the bearing block 57 when such bearing block is at therighthand end ofthe slot 26, as shown at the right of Figure 5 and whichcorresponds to the position of the parts as shown in Figure 3. It willbe apparent that the weight of the forward arm of the lever 58 and ofthe roller 59 carried thereby is suiicient to cause the detent 60 toautomatically move into position in front of the bearing block 57 assoon as the latter reaches the righthand end of the slot 26 during thefirst portion of the movement of the rack 25 towards the furnace, inwhich movement of the rack the lost motion between the same and thecarriage 10 is taken up preliminary to moving the carriage towards thefurnace. Positioned in the forward end of the track 29 is a block 61having an inclined surface 62 upon which the roller 59 travels duringthe latter portion of the movement of the carriage towards the furnace.The movement of the roller up this inclined surface effects swinging ofthe detent 60 downwardly into the position shown at the left in Figure5, thereby permitting the rack 25 during the first portion of itsmovement away from the furnace to move relatively to the shaft 15 untilthe bearing block 57 is positioned in the lefthand end of the slot 26,whereupon the carriage 10 is moved to the right with the rack.

It will be seen that the provision of the detent means described aboveenables the arms 16 to be given a preliminary tilting movement to lift astack off the slideway formed by the skids 5 and then to be graduallyturned into a substantially horizontal position to place the stack onits side on the slideway with the individual billets thereon inclined tothe rear without the mechanism being subjected to any sudden jar tendingto cause the stack to slide off the arms.

The advantages of the present invention arise from the provision ofcharging apparatus whereby the billets to be charged into a furnace maybe handled in stacks, thereby decreasing the amount of manual laborrequired in the ordinary method of handling the billets individually andrendering it possible to charge the billets into the furnace much morerapidly than by the prior method. This enables stacks of billets asformed by the shear to be bodily transferred to the charging apparatusand charged into the furnace.

While in the illustrated embodiment of theinvention the stacks ofbillets are placed in upright position upon the rear end portion of theslideway formed by the disks 5, it may be desirable in certain cases toplace the stacks upon a rack which might be at an elevation to theslideway.

I claim:

1. In a method of charging billets into a heating furnace, the stepsconsisting in bodily placing a stack of the billets in upright positionon a slideway leading into the furnace, evening the sides of said stack,turning said stack so as to lie on its side on said slideway, andpushing said stack into the furnace, substantially as described.

2. In a method of charging billets into a heating furnace, the stepsconsisting in bodily placing a stack of the billets on a slidewayleading into the furnace so as to lie on its side thereon, with theindividual billets inclined rearwardly, and pushing said stack into thefurnace while maintaining said inclination of the billets, substantiallyas described.

3. In a method of charging billets into a heating furnace, the stepsconsisting in placing a stack of the billets in upright position on aslideway leading into the furnace, turning said stack to lie on its sideon said slideway, and pushing said stack into the furnace, substantiallyas described.

4. In a method of charging billets into a heating furnace, the stepsconsisting in placing a stack of the billets in upright positionon aslideway leading into the furnace, turning said stack to lie on its sideon said slideway with the individual billets 3&1 1,551,004

inclined rearwardly, and pushing said stack into the furnace whilemaintaining said inclination of the billets, substantially as described.

In a method of charging billets into a heating furnace, the stepsconsisting in placing a plurality of stacks of the billets in a row inside-by-side relationship on a slideway leading into the furnace,evening the sides of said stacks, turning the end stack nearest thefurnace to lie on its side on said slideway, pushing said stack into thefurnace, and repeating the two last mentioned steps with each succeedingstack until all of said stacks have been charged into the furnace,substantially as described.

6. In an apparatus for charging billets into a heating furnace, aslideway adapted to receive a stack of the billets in upright positionthereon, means associated with said slideway for turning said stack tolie on its side on said slideway and for pushing` the saine overslideway into a furnace, and means for actuating said first mentionedmeans, substantially as described.

7. In an apparatus for charging billets into a heating furnace, aslideway adapted to receive stack of the billets in upright positionthereon, pusher means associatedL with said slideway adapted to engagethe bottom and one side of said stack, said pusher means being mountedfor rocking movement to turn said stack to lie on its side on saidslideway and for movement longitudinally of said slideway to push saidstack into a furnace, and means for impartingsaid. movements to saidpusher means, substantially7 as described.

8. In an apparatus for charging` billets into a heating` furnace, aslideway adapted to receive a stack of the billets in upright positionthereon, pusher means associate-il with said slideway for turning saidstack to lie on its side on said slideway with the individual billetsinclined rearwardly and for pushing said stack over said slideway into afurnace while maintaining said inclination of said billets, and meansfor actuating` said pusher means, substantially as described.

9. In an apparatus for charging billets into a heating furnace, aslideway adapted to receive a stack of the billets in upright positionthereon, pusher means associated with said slideway having a portion forengagement with a side of said stack and a portion for engagement withthe bottom thereof, the engaging surface of the latter portion lying ina plane at an obtuse angle to the engaging surface of the firstmentioned portion, said pusher means being mounted for rocking movementto turn said stack to lie on its side on said slideway with theindividual billets of said stack inclined rearwardly and for movementlongitudinally of said slideway to push said stack into a furnace, andmeans for imparting said movements to said pusher means, substantiallyas described.

l0. In an apparatus for charging billets into a heating furnace, aslideway adapted to receive a sta-ck of the billets in upright positionthereon, abutment means extendingr transversely of said slideway andadapted to engage one side of said stack, pusher means mounted formovement: towards said abutment means to engage the other side of saidstack and press said stack between said pusher means and abutment meansand for movement away from said abutment means to turn said stack to lieon is side on said slideway and push the same over said slideway into afurnace, and means for imparting said movements to said pusher means,substantially as described.

1l. In an apparatus for charging billets into a heating furnace, aslideway adapted to receive a plurality of stacks of the billetsarranged in a row in side-by-side relationship thereon, abutment meansextending transversely of said slideway and adapted to engage one end ofsaid row, pusher means mounted for movement towards said abutment meansto engage the other end of the row and press said stacks between saidpusher means and the abutment means to even the same and for movementaway from said abutment means to turn the end stack to lie on its sideon said slideway and push the same over said slideway into a furnace,and means for imparting said movements to said pusher means,substantially as described.

12. In an apparatus for charging billets into a heating furnace, aslideway adapted to receive a stack of the billets in upright positionthereon, a carriage extending transversely of said slideway and slidablelongitudinal thereof, pusher means pivotally mounted on said carriage,means for reciprocating` said carriage and means cooperating with saidpusher means for causing the same to engage said stack upon movement ofsaid carriage in one direction and for causing` it to turn said stack tolie on its side on said slideway and push the same over said slidewayinto a furnace upon movement of said carriage in the opposite direction,substantially as described.

13. In an apparatus for charging billets into a heating furnace, aslideway adapted to receive a stack of the billets in upright positionthereon, a carriage extending transversely of said slideway and slidablelongitudinally thereof, a rock-shaft extending transversely of saidslideway and journaled in said carriage, pusher means carried by saidrock-shaft and adapted to engage a side and the bottom of said stack,means for reciprocating said carriage, and means coitil tit l .it t.

operating with said rock-shaft for causing said pusher means to engagesaid stack upon movement of said carriage in one direction and forcausing it to turn said stack to lie on its side in said slidevvay andpush the same over said slidevvay into a furnace upon movement of saidcarriage in the opposite direction, substantially as described.

14. In an apparatus for charging billets into a heating furnace, aslideway adapted to receive a stack of the billets in upright positionthereon, a carriage extending transversely of said slideWay and slidablelongitudinally thereof, a rock-shaft extending transversely7 of saidslideWay and journaled in said carriage, pusher means carried by saidrock-shaft and adapted to engage a side and the bottom of said stack,including a member having a lost motion connection with said rock-shaft,means cooperating with said rock-shaft for causing said pusher means toengage said stack upon movement of said carriage in one direction andfor causing it to turn said stack to lie on its side on said slidevvayand push the same over said slidevvay into a furnace upon movement ofsaid carriage in the opposite direction, and cooperating means on saidrock-shaft and member for causing said pusher means to lift said stackofi' the slide- Way and initially tilt the same during the initialmovement of said member towards the furnace in taking up the lost motionbetween said member and rock-shaft, substantially as described.

15. In an apparatus for charging billets into a heating furnace, aslideway adapted to receive a stack of the billets in upright positionthereon, pusher means associated With said slidevvay for turning saidstack to lie on its side on said slidevvay and foi` pushing the sameover said slidevvay into a furnace, means for actuating said pushermeans, and adjustably mounted latch means associated With said slidevvayfor engagement With the outermost billet in a stack being pushed oversaid slidevvay, subst-an-l tially as described.

16. In a furnace charging apparatus, a support for a stack of billets,and means cooperating With said support to initially tilt a stack ofbillets placed in upright position thereon, turn the same throughsubstantially 90, and then move the turned stack longitudinally of theapparatus, substantially as described.

17. In a furnace charging apparatus, a support for a stack of billets,and means c0- operating with said support to even a stack of billetsplaced in upright position thereon, turn the stack through substantially90, and then move the turned stack longitudinally of the apparatus,substantially as de.- scribed.

18. In a furnace charging apparatus, a support for a stack of billets,and means cooperating With said support to turn a stack placed inupright position thereon through substantially 90 and then move theturned stack longitudinally of the apparatus, substantially asdescribed.

19. The combination with a heating furnace having a charging hearth, ofcharging means associated with said hearth adapted to support aplurality of stacks of sheared material and individually transfer saidstacks over said hearth into said furnace, substantially as described.

20. The combination With a heating furnace having a charging hearth, ofcharging means associated with said hearth adapted to support aplurality of stacks of sheared material in upright position andindividually transfer said stacks l@ver said hearth into said furnace,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

FLORENCE C. BIGGERT, JR.

